


December Writing Challenge

by starkinabox



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Drabbles, M/M, one shots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-05 05:06:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16804204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkinabox/pseuds/starkinabox
Summary: So, basically, every day I'm going to write a 500+ word drabble/one-shot in December. Prompts are from followers on Wattpad. I'll place the ships in the chapters themselves. All of them will feature Tony in some way or another.Pairings listed are ones that I've had requested already, not necessarily the ones that are featured yet.If there are any warnings, I will list them in the chapter themselves.





	1. 01/12 | IRONSTRANGE

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "I never meant to hurt you."  
> Ship: IronStrange  
> Words: 657  
> Note: Non-powered AU where Stephen and Tony have been married for 15 years.

Tony was sitting in the chair that faced the entryway to the living room, where Stephen was going to have to come through in order to basically get anywhere in the house. In his one hand was a half a bottle of scotch, and in the other was a half cracked iPhone. 

Glancing at his watch, Tony sighed. It was already quarter to one in the morning, Stephen was supposed to be home from his shift at the hospital by eleven, although him being late wasn’t that uncommon as of the past few months. Just the past week, Tony had attempted to stay up until his husband had made it home, but had fallen asleep somewhere after three in the morning, on the chair, without Stephen. When he’d awoken, he’d been moved to their shared bed, although Stephen hadn’t been there, and the spot the doctor would’ve normally slept was cold. He’d been in the kitchen, sure, but his smile and “Good afternoon, dear,” had seemed a little forced.

Tonight had been his breaking point though. At midnight, when there had been no sign of Stephen, and when none of his calls had gone through, and all his texts ignored, Tony had decided to go through his husband’s stuff, trying to find some  _ hint  _ of what was going on. He’d had a small inkling, but he hadn’t wanted to believe it, to believe Stephen capable of such bad things.

Then, he found the iPhone. The pass code was easy enough to figure out, 0529, Tony’s birthday, which seemed like a cruel joke when he found everything on the phone. Text messages, pictures, so  _ many  _ messages between Stephen and his ex-girlfriend and colleague, Christine Palmer. And most of them weren’t exactly innocent. There were pictures sent between the two of them that were far more revealing than anything Tony and Stephen sent each other, even back when they were young and ridiculously in love.

That’s when the iPhone went flying, which was where the crack came from.

And then, he finally broke down and grabbed the hidden Scotch bottle that Tony was pretty sure Stephen had no idea about, and yet Tony hadn’t actually touched  _ years,  _ since deciding to sober up for good. But he needed it for the night, needed to drink the sorrow of his husband of fifteen years cheating on him away.

He must’ve passed out at some point, because the next thing he knew, he was being shaken awake. 

“Tony, Tony, dear, wake up,” Stephen’s voice called. 

“‘Uck off,” Tony slurred in his half-awaken stupor. Nevertheless, he cracked open his eyes, and got used to the dim light that Stephen must’ve turned on. The doctor was standing in front of him, not wearing his scrubs, but a black t-shirt and a pair of not-too-tight jeans that hugged his body perfectly. Tony felt the sudden urge to punch him.

“Tony, why were you drinking?” Stephen asked,

Tony answered by holding the iPhone up, and Stephen’s eyes widened for a moment.

“I can explain-” Stephen started, but the glare Tony was giving him made him stop in his tracks.

“I don’ t’ink I need a splanation,” Tony slurred.

“Look,” Stephen said. “I just...I  _ had  _ to find something to distract me and Christine was there for me when you were off busy with that Parker kid-”

“You t’ink I was cheatin’ on you wi’ Pete?” Tony asked, his eyebrows furrowed. “He’s like, nineteen!” 

“And a great deal younger than I am,” Stephen pointed out. “Much more capable of keeping up with you, don’t you agree?” 

“I loved you, Stephen,” Tony muttered.

Stephen’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean,  _ loved _ ?” 

Tony didn’t answer him, instead he looked away, hoping Stephen would get the message that way. Indeed, he seemed to of, and the guy sighed. “I never meant to hurt you, Tony.”

“Too late for that,” Tony said, his voice clearly broken, even through the slur the alcohol brought.


	2. 02/12 | IRONSTRANGE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "I wished I'd never met you."   
> Pairing: IronStrange  
> Words: 643  
> Note: Non Powered Young Adult!AU. Tony is 21, Stephen is 19

The door slammed close as Tony stormed out of the house, angry. Instead of taking the hint, Stephen instead followed his boyfriend out of the house as well.

“You can’t run from all your problems!” Stephen exclaimed. “You’ll have to face them eventually, Tony!”

Tony turned on the other man. “I’m not running from my fucking problems, Strange,” he hissed. “I am leaving so I can fucking calm down before I do something I regret.”

Stephen scoffed. “You’re still running. You’re leaving and when you come back, you’ll do what you always do and just ignore the reason why we were fighting in the first place! You _always_ do this, Tony.”

Tony glared. “Maybe if I’m so fucking predictable you should just give up on me, don’t you think?”

“Are you breaking up with me?” Stephen asked. “Is that what this is supposed to be?” 

“You basically just told me that I’m not allowed to be upset that you just compared me to my fucking father,” Tony hissed. “Yeah, I think that warrants me thinking _maybe_ we should just break up.”

Stephen let out a deep breath. “Look, Tony, think about what you’re saying-”

“I _am_ thinking,” Tony said. “That’s why I’m trying to get away from you, but you aren’t fucking listening. I don’t want to say something I’m going to regret, alright?”

“And you think breaking up with me is something you won’t regret?” Stephen challenged.

“No, I don’t think that,” Tony said, attempting to keep his voice down. “That’s why I’m trying to walk away and calm down. When I come back, we can talk about all my fucking issues to your damn content, alright? Won’t actually guarantee I won’t walk out again, but then again, if all we’re gonna do is fucking argue, maybe we _shouldn’t_ be together.”

“You’re giving me whiplash, Tony,” Stephen said, and it seemed like the anger had melted out of his voice. “Are you breaking up with me or no?”

“I don’t know,” Tony said, shaking his head. “Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

Stephen let out a massive breathe. “Sure. Let’s talk about it tomorrow after I get basically no sleep because I’m fucking worried about my boyfriend and wanna know whether or not I still have one!”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Look, as I’ve said, _multiple_ times, I don’t want to come to a conclusion I’m going to regret tonight. Give me some space for the night, Stephen. Let me think this over, tomorrow morning I will have a much clearer mind.” He took a deep breath, letting it out through his nose. “You fucking compared me to my father,” he said, trying to stay calm. “And not in a good way.”

“I just said-”

“I know what you fucking said,” Tony said. “And _you_ know that I hate being compared to him. You know I fucking _hate_ it when people say we are similar in _any_ aspect whatsoever. So, fuck you Stephen. Just, _fuck you._ ” He took another deep breath when he realized he’d lost his cool again. He had to get out of there before he said something he’d stupidly regret.

“You know, if you’re gonna act like this, maybe you _are_ more alike Howard than you think.”

Tony’s eyes turned cold. “Don’t. You. Fucking. Dare.”

Stephen was unfazed. “No, this is the kind of bullshit Howard would definitely pull. Running away from problems in his relationship instead of fixing them, fighting over every little fucking comment, and the next day, pretending everything is perfectly fine. Face it, Tony. You’re far more like your father than you’d like to admit.”

Eyes still cold as stone, Tony hissed, “That’s it. We’re fucking through. I wished I’d never met you.” With that, he turned, starting to walk away. It was only once he got a couple blocks from a screaming Stephen that he’d let himself finally break down, tears forming in his eyes, his heart hurting.

There’d be no healing from this fight. 


	3. 13/12 | IRONSTRANGE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "Not you again."   
> Pairing: IronStrange  
> Words: 661  
> Note: Non Powered AU!

Tony and Stephen were spending a little bit of time together at a restaurant. Between Stephen being on constant call at the hospital and Tony still being the owner of Stark Industries, despite naming Pepper CEO, it was almost impossible for the two of them to have any alone time. But today, Pepper promised she would have everything at SI handled by herself, and the hospital swore they’d only call Stephen in if it was a life-or-death situation. It  _ was  _ there three year anniversary after all. 

So, they had made reservations at one of the fanciest restaurants in town, their high statuses letting them jump past quite a few of the other people on the list. Under normal circumstances, the two men would’ve felt incredibly guilty about it, but they were just happy to be able to spend time together, and this had been the restaurant where Tony had proposed to Stephen, so it was special to them. They always tried to spend their anniversary there, but the past year hadn’t worked out very well, and they hadn’t been able to make their reservations.

So, there they were at the restaurant, eating, and just having a good time finally getting to spend time together, when Tony recognized the two people being brought to sit at the table next to them.

When Steve Rogers noticed Tony, he smiled. “Hey, Tony,” he greeted.

That caused Stephen to look up. “Not you again,” he grumbled to himself, though loud enough for everyone to hear it.

Tony recognized the guy Steve was with as James “Bucky” Barnes, Steve’s best friend. He hadn’t realized they were together though. Maybe this would be better now, maybe now Steve would leave Tony and Stephen alone.

It was then that Tony realized Stephen was glaring at Steve yet. Tony nudged his husband with his foot under the table. “Relax,” he said, his voice steady. He turned back to Steve. “So, you and Bucky together?”

“Yeah,” Steve said, smiling. “He’s great, I’m lucky to have him.” There was a quick pause. “Sorry for all the troubles I caused you, Tony. I know I went a little crazy after our break-up-”

“A little?” Stephen asked, an eyebrow raised. “If I recall, you tried sabotaging mine and Tony’s relationship several times while we were dating,  _ and  _ you crashed our wedding, trying to break us up at the altar. And even after we got married you still tried-”

“I get it,” Steve said. “I messed up, alright? But after that incident with the fire escape, I started thinking. Yeah, I loved you at one point, and I  _ still  _ do, but that’s because you were my first boyfriend. There’s always going to be a part of me that loves you. But, you were happy with Stephen, and I realized I should let you be happy instead of ruining your happiness. I got a therapist, and I realized that I needed to back off, so I did. That’s why you haven’t seen me in a year, because I was working on myself. And along the way, I realized I loved Bucky.”

Tony watched as Stephen carefully watched Steve, knowing full well that the doctor was looking for some kind of tell that Steve was lying about anything. He must’ve passed though, because Stephen just nodded his head.

“Alright,” he said. “I’m happy that you’ve managed to find someone for you then.”

“And I’m happy you and Tony are still together,” Steve said, “despite all the times I tried breaking you up.”

“Just proved we were meant to be together,” Tony interjected, a small smirk on his face. “After all, we survived my crazy stalker ex. It just means we can survive anything.”


End file.
